ISLAMABAD:The Senate on Wednesday passed three bills, which include: “The National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2023”, “The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2023” and “The Pakistan Maritime Zones Bill, 2023.” “The National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2023” seeks to remove the legal complication in the transfer of cases from the Accountability Court to the relevant forums which do not fall within the jurisdiction of the NAB Ordinance.
The Code of Civil Procedure Bill, 2023 aims at providing relief to the litigants and removing the excessive burden from courts. According to the statement and objects of this bill, “The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act No. VII), which was enacted on February 21, 2020, is applicable to the extent of Islamabad Capital Territory, Islamabad. A number of reservations had been raised by members of the Islamabad Bar Association, Islamabad Bar Council and District Judiciary regarding the implementation of the 2020 Act.
A consequential effect of amendments in the civil Procedure is that the judges, lawyers and litigants are suffering as they are now required to litigate at two different courts. Each civil judge hears a main suit filed before his Court and simultaneously hears injunction applications from other Courts. This practice exacerbated the backlog of pending cases. Parties are forced to travel between courts which are adding to their time and costs as well as their counsels. Deletion of the right of revision under section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 had contributed to excessive litigation before High Court under its constitutional jurisdiction further adding to the cost and misery of parties falling prey to unintended consequences.
In essence, the 2020 Act had defeated the purpose of quick access to justice, and inexpensive, speedy and fair trial. “The Pakistan Maritime Zones Bill, 2023” consolidates and amends the law relating to territorial sea and maritime zones of Pakistan. It will enable Pakistan to deal with these matters in accordance with national and international laws, and assert its rights, jurisdiction, and sovereignty in sync with internationally accepted provisions. Earlier, at the outset, the House offered fateha for the departed soul of former Federal Minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor, who died in a road accident in Islamabad and the security personnel martyred in recent acts of terrorism. The House has been prorogued.